The Oilers will play five games against Atlantic Division teams, eight games against Northeast Division teams, and five versus Southeast Division opponents.

The Montreal Canadiens come to Edmonton October 10th, the Toronto Maple Leafs come to town on December 30th, and the Ottawa Senators, are here on March 9th.

The good news for Oiler fans is you will see Ovechkin, Crosby, Malkin and even the high octane Philadelphia Flyers this year. The Caps are here on December 19th, the Penguins January 14th and the Flyers come to town February 3rd.

They open the season at home v. the Flames on Saturday Oct 3rd, and nine of their first 14 games are at home.

The Oilers have a six game trek, two five-game road trips, and one four game trek. And their longest home stand is five games from Nov 18th to Nov 27th.

One of Canada's most versatile sports personalities. Jason hosts The Jason Gregor Show, weekdays from 2 to 6 p.m., on TSN 1260, and he writes a column every Monday in the Edmonton Journal. You can follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/JasonGregor

We just signed Minard, who is a better player statistically than Reddox, and I'm sure he will at least replace the 44 pts Liam put up in Springfield. As for the other things that Reddox brings? Work Ethic mean nothing without the skills to back it up, I'm happy to see the dead weight leaving this organization, between Sestito and Reddox, that's 2 less wasted contracts.

*adds Reddox jersey to the pile containing his Mathieu Roy, Patrick Thoresen, Dominic Pittis, and Horcoff jerseys. Remembers that Horc is still an Oiler and for a moment considers picking it out of the pile. Decides to keep it there anyway.*

Didn’t Ethan Moreau just win the King Clancy for allowing a Make A Wish Foundation kid (Reddox) to live out his dying wish as an NHL player for a year?
Keep your head up in that European research center for kids without pigment there champ!!!

Hey Gregor,
with the Oilers publicly apoligizing for their job in Spingfield and their commitment to icing a legit team…how does this not hurt them. Yes he is a role player in the NHL but he is a solid AHL player and since they just went out and spent big AHL money on Minard and Arsene, does this mess up the Oilers AHL plans?

He would be a 50 to 60 point guy down there, and it might hurt them, but I don't think that is their many priority...and if he leaves they could sign another player who could give them the same production down there. Players like Reddox are a dime a dozen.

Our second-line centre for a good portion one season. He had one amazing night on the dot - he went 13 and 4 or something - and was pencilled in on the 2nd line centre spot for the next 30 games. Having said that, this was pre-lockout and there wasn't too much other option. Just funny to look back at how things used to be. But yes, the lips...dead giveaway for the Dominator.

*adds Reddox jersey to the pile containing his Mathieu Roy, Patrick Thoresen, Dominic Pittis, and Horcoff jerseys. Remembers that Horc is still an Oiler and for a moment considers picking it out of the pile. Decides to keep it there anyway.*

*adds Reddox jersey to the pile containing his Mathieu Roy, Patrick Thoresen, Dominic Pittis, and Horcoff jerseys. Remembers that Horc is still an Oiler and for a moment considers picking it out of the pile. Decides to keep it there anyway.*

*adds Reddox jersey to the pile containing his Mathieu Roy, Patrick Thoresen, Dominic Pittis, and Horcoff jerseys. Remembers that Horc is still an Oiler and for a moment considers picking it out of the pile. Decides to keep it there anyway.*

LOL.

Poo Czar wrote:

Didn’t Ethan Moreau just win the King Clancy for allowing a Make A Wish Foundation kid (Reddox) to live out his dying wish as an NHL player for a year?
Keep your head up in that European research center for kids without pigment there champ!!!

Before I decided for sure that we won’t miss Reddox, I’d love to know what the Oilers offer was. Whether he was miscast on the Oilers top-line or not, the fact remains he was a reliable utility player who brought his best effort every night. If the Oilers brass thought that was worth, for example, a 1-year contract at the league minimum (roughly the same as Reddox’s salary last year of $0.515M), I’d suggest that a potential move to Europe isn’t a mistake on Reddox’s part.

It wouldn't be the money, it would be that they want him to have a two-way deal. If he gets sent down he would make around $75,000...that is a big difference from the guaranteed money he would make in Europe. I think that is the bigger reason for him to turn it down.

Didn't the Oil just sign 2 guys on 2-way contracts that paid ~$150k-$250k on the Minor league level? I thought Katz was willing to shell out cash to keep players of interest to the club, and as far as I know there are no cap implications on the minor league side of the 2-way contract. Seems to me if they really wanted to keep him, they could have anted up some minor league level cash, but I'm guessing he was hoping for a one way deal. And a lifetime worth of free sunscreen from Rexall.

Poo Czar wrote:
Seems to me if they really wanted to keep him, they could have anted up some minor league level cash
If Katz puts his money where his mouth is I want it to bury Staios in the minors, not pay our minor league 14-16 on depth chart players well.

that would be classless and a tragedy if that ever happened. Staios may have had his faults but MacT leaned on him for a lot of minutes and overall I think he did well. This guy took pucks to the face for this Team and fought numerous times for "the kids" and you want to throw him away like yesterday's trash? F that.

If Katz puts his money where his mouth is I want it to bury Staios in the minors, not pay our minor league 14-16 on depth chart players well.

See how many real NHLers want to sign with the Oil if this is what they do to declining vets, especially ones that have been long time warriors with the club. If it comes to that, I'd rather see a guy like Staios shipped out for a 6th round pick or something. rember Andrychuk? That was classless.

Overpaying "premium" minor leaguers with a 2-way deal doesn't hurt the cap and gives the Oil a leg up in the development system. If even 20% of these guys make an NHL impact, even at the 3rd line level, it's a win. Katz has the money to spend over the cap, this is one way to use it. Plus it couldn't hurt what has been a brutal farm club situation over the last few years.

@ Poo Czar:
ofc, We would only bury him in the minors if we couldnt get a 6th round pick. Or no one took him off waivers.

We would be like "Steve, we tried, just no one wants you at 2.6 million, once that contract is up maybe sign for less back into the NHL", hell we could buy him out and re-sign for 1 mil. Staios has a head on his shoulders, he knows the business and the fact there is a cap, he will be happy to collect his cheque no matter where he plays, thankful that hes making over 2.5 million dollars still.

Simple fact is we are paying him top 4 dollars to be our 6th - 7th D man. It is not economical/competitive for us to swallow that much cap room on him. I would rather be a classless playoff team than a classy bottom feeder. NJ Devils did this alot, and no one knocks their organization. It would hurt our chances signing aged veterans more being a crappy team than a well managed one that might hurt their feelings.

@ Jason Gregor:
Didn’t the Oil just sign 2 guys on 2-way contracts that paid ~$150k-$250k on the Minor league level? I thought Katz was willing to shell out cash to keep players of interest to the club, and as far as I know there are no cap implications on the minor league side of the 2-way contract. Seems to me if they really wanted to keep him, they could have anted up some minor league level cash, but I’m guessing he was hoping for a one way deal. And a lifetime worth of free sunscreen from Rexall.

To guys who were proven AHL players. Once you start overpaying all of your young guys in the minors it becomes bad business. Arsene has won two championships in the AHL, and Minard is solid soldier with better skills than Reddox in the AHL.

You don't pay guys going on their second contract big AHL money. It is bad business and starts a bad trend. Guys have to prove their worth in any league, and Reddox hasn't proven anything in either league. One decent season isn't enough for any player to demand big dollars for his respective league.Hemmertime wrote:

If Katz puts his money where his mouth is I want it to bury Staios in the minors, not pay our minor league 14-16 on depth chart players well.

You won't be a millionaire anytime soon with that way of thinking. Paying Staios $2.7 million in the minors is stupid, especially since he is still a decent NHL defenceman.

Throwing around money with no regard is not smart, and since when does Katz have to put his money where his mouth is?

@ Jason Gregor:
Nah, I said if. Katz has stated or it has been released that he has no problem paying over the cap or I think the qoute was "Doing whatever needs to get done to improve the team" or something along those lines. Lets say we can land a player that puts us 3 million over cap or so, who is #1 target to move out? In my eyes the player making the most money that we could live without is Staios. Im not saying spend Katz money all Willy-Nilly (heh love that phrase), thats why I disagree with overpaying players who are career minor leaguers or 13th forwards. IF he does reach into his wallet to go the extra mile, it doesnt make sense to do it bettering our Minor league team giving people like Reddox 1 way deals or high % of contract in minors.

Frankly Staios + Nilsson gives us cap room we could use. Only use it if something better comes along, Im not stating bury Staios in minors and call up Peckham - but lets say Tanguay vs Staios and Nilsson, well that to me is the time to say bye.

ryanbatty wrote:
Calgary gets seven Saturday games, five on HNIC. Vancouver gets eleven, ten on HNIC. It seems odd that Vancouver gets so many more than the other two that share that slot.
Not really, check to see how many Toronto has on HNIC, it’s purely for ratings, and while I would rather watch “the sharing circle” than the leafs, I understand the business side of it.

I call BS on that one. If the CBC was funded privately I'd agree with you 100%. As a publicly funded company that is Canadian, instead of Toronto, owned there should never be a 'ratings' justification for the leafs crap that gets shown on a weakly basis. I mean, my god they show flippin interpretive dance specials in prime time spots!?!?!?!?

I would rather be a classless playoff team than a classy bottom feeder

I'm guessing you voted "yes" for Heatley?

I can fox with your enthusiasm. I wanna go to a playoff game again one day too, but I think people like Wanye saying that the Oilers need some pride is where it's time to steer our ambitions. Being that we don't have beaches, skyscrapers, or (god forbid) a glorified rodeo, Oiler pride should be built from having integrity and a team that embodies class.

As fans we're quick to throw anyone we can under the bus. Despite what some might think, absolute ruthlessness is not a safe path to success.

ScubaSteve wrote:
ryanbatty wrote:
Calgary gets seven Saturday games, five on HNIC. Vancouver gets eleven, ten on HNIC. It seems odd that Vancouver gets so many more than the other two that share that slot.
Not really, check to see how many Toronto has on HNIC, it’s purely for ratings, and while I would rather watch “the sharing circle” than the leafs, I understand the business side of it.
I call BS on that one. If the CBC was funded privately I’d agree with you 100%. As a publicly funded company that is Canadian, instead of Toronto, owned there should never be a ‘ratings’ justification for the leafs crap that gets shown on a weakly basis. I mean, my god they show flippin interpretive dance specials in prime time spots!?!?!?!?

It's not just about ratings. It's basically just a democratic outome. Sucks as it does living in Alberta, there are nearly twice as many people in Toronto as there are in our entire province. So unfortunately, they get way more games. There are also more Leafs fans outside of Ontario than there are Oilers fans outside of Alberta. Fact.

I call BS on that one. If the CBC was funded privately I’d agree with you 100%. As a publicly funded company that is Canadian, instead of Toronto, owned there should never be a ‘ratings’ justification for the leafs crap that gets shown on a weakly basis. I mean, my god they show flippin interpretive dance specials in prime time spots!?!?!?!?

It's still all about ratings, they have to show canadian content (hence the dance crap), but when a crappy leafs game draws double the audience of a great Oilers game, it's an easy choice for the station.

And make no mistake, while they are owned by the government, they make their money from advertising, and higher ratings=more ad dollars.

I agree with you. The Greater Toronto Area alone has 5.5 million people, while the "Golden Horseshoe" has 8.1. million people. On the other hand, all of B.C. and Alberta combined have 8 million people.

It's also partially a matter of time zones. [the following is not a rule, just a general observation from living in Alberta, the Vancouver area and Ottawa, so no need to point out every exception] Montreal is always on French CBC or RDS, so they're out somewhat. That leaves Toronto and Ottawa (who Ottawa fans don't even care about) vying for the 7pm Eastern slot ("Game 1"). Thus, Toronto has a "gimme slot" in a sense as they have more national cache than Ottawa. This is important as more people will watch Game 1 nationally partially because of fan base, but also time zones, since more people out west will casually watch hockey early in the evening as opposed to Game 2, where people out East will need to stay up until 1am. Out west, Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton compete for the same, more locally-watched slot. Vancouver gets more than Edmonton/Calgary, possibly, because it's easier to have a Vancouver game at 7pm, than an Edmonton/Calgary game at 10pm, and also because Vancouver is a bigger market (although we all know fans only watch during the last week of April, as I was reminded on my yearly trip back to Vancouver this spring).

We see this issue with the World Series, and will also see it with the 2010 Olympics. Schedules are made for the East Coast. And again, Rebuttal has it bang-on: I'm not necessarily happy about it, but that's the way it is.

There are also more Leafs fans outside of Ontario than there are Oilers fans outside of Alberta.

That wouldn't have anything to do with exposure on Saturday nights, would it? Give the Oilers 40+ years of being on Canada's tv's every Saturday and see what it does to the fan base.

I understand the population density argument, but that argument seems to be used selectively by our government, regardless who is in power. I'll stop there though, as I'm not trying to hijack Gregor's blog about the schedule.